26 FEBRUARY 1910, Page 25

READABLE NOVEL8.—The Home Secretary. By Wilmot Kayo. (Ward, Lock, and

Co. 6s.)—A political story of a Labour leader who becomes Home Secretary. It is fairly probable, if not particularly striking.—White Walls. By Max Pemberton. (Same publishers. 6s.)—An Austrian story concerned with the underground life of the dwellers in the salt-mines.---A Blot on the Scutchcon. By May Wynne. (Mills and Boon. 6s.)—A story of some power. We do not admire the style, which is somewhat melodramatic.—A Trader's Daughter. By W. A. Kingon. (John Ouseley. 6s.)—A story of South African life, with plenty of interest, though the telling might have been better.— Under the Thatch. By Allen Raine. (Hutchinson and Co. 6s.)—This Welsh story is perhaps a little too sentimental, but it is thoroughly wholesome.—The Wiring of Lance Cleaverage. By Alice MacGowan. (G. P. Putnam's Sons. 6s.)—A spirited and picturesque story of life in the United States.—A Perfect Genius. By Bertram Smith. (Harper and Brothers. 3s. 6d.)—A very humorous school story.—A Bridge of Fancies. By James Cassidy. (Robert Culley. 3s. 6d.)—These studies of life, two-and- twenty in number, are very effective. Those that have children for their subject are specially good.